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October is a busy month for all our Atlanta Freedom Bands performing ensembles with neighborhood festivals, our city's largest parade, and the start of a new performance season. Scroll down to check out where you can see AFB perform this month, find out how to join us, read about the exciting concerts we have planned, and buy season tickets!

AFB Events in the Community This Month

Saturday, Oct 4 -
Piedmont Park Green Market (12th Street Entrance)

How about mixing some swinging jazz music and peppy rock tunes with fine, farm-raised veggies, meats, and products? Come to Piedmont Park's Green Market for some AFB-provided entertainment while you shop. Swing by the market from 10 to 11 AM to hear our MetroGnomes Stage Band. Or, march on over between noon and 1 PM to watch the Marching Band and Color Guard wow the crowds with music and dance!

Sunday, October 12 - The Atlanta Pride Parade (starting at 1 PM)

Our Marching Band and Color Guard rock their way down Peachtree Street this year with tunes from Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, and Nicki Minaj. (We are a gay band, after all!) Be sure to stop by our booth at the Atlanta Pride Festival in Piedmont Park in the Green section. We will have friendly band folks to meet and small ensemble performances to keep you entertained.

Sunday, October 19 -
Atlanta AIDS Walk, 2 PM

Our Marching Band and Color Guard will put some pep in your step as you walk to raise money for great organizations in our city. Look for us at the entrance to the park at 10th and Argonne Streets.

New Member Welcome Event

AFB welcomes all woodwind, brass, and percussion musicians to join our 22nd performance season. We will kick off our rehearsals with a New Member Welcome Event where you can meet all the wonderful people who make up our organization. We will read through music for our holiday concert and have some social time to celebrate the start of the season. Let us know you are interested by clicking on our Contact Page and letting us know what instrument you play.

Announcing AFB's 22nd Performance Season!

Three Fabulous Concerts and an Exciting Night of Swing are in store as AFB embarks on its 2014-15 year. Don't miss a single show! We have season tickets on sale now for all four shows for just $50. The discount price is just like getting one concert free! Click over to our AFB Ticket Store to buy your season tickets today. We will have your tickets conveniently available at our Will Call table saving you time at the door.

Saturday, December 20, 8 PM

The
Concert Band hauls out the holly with music that celebrates the wonderful stories
and traditions of the season, including selections from “The Nutcracker”, "The
Christmas Story", and more!

We
present our Spring concert to honor people in our community who build a more
inclusive, accepting, and equal future for LGBT citizens. Heroic music for heroic people.

Tickets: $15 General Admission, $10 Seniors, $5 Students

Saturday, April 18, 8 PM

Bring
your dancing shoes because once The MetroGnomes Stage Band starts, you won’t be
able to sit still! Our annual event
includes free swing dance lessons, food, drink, and the best of swing, big
band, and classic rock. Free swing dance lessons begin at 7 PM.

Tickets: $20 General Admission

Saturday, June 20, 8 PM, in AtlantaSunday, June 28, 4 PM, in Augusta

AFB
kicks off Atlanta’s Stonewall Week celebrations with a concert of music by LGBT
composers, including Bernstein, Copland, Barber, and more from the classical period to
today. Then we take the concert on the road for AFB's first-ever performance at the Augusta Pride Festival, and our first-ever concert outside the Atlanta metro area.

Tickets: $15 General Admission, $10 Seniors, $5 Students

Previous Concerts of our 21st Performance Season

Set Sail with AFB!!

Ahoy, Matey! On Saturday June 21, the Concert Band invited music loving land lubbers to embark on a musical adventure exploring the majesty, beauty, and fun of the sea. The concert program featured traditional songs of the sea paired with "epic" works that evoked swash-buckling adventure.

Concert selections include: "Eternal Father Strong to Save" (US Navy Hymn) by C.T. Smith"Sea Songs" by Thomas Knox"Sea Hawk, Suite for Symphonic Band" by Eric Korngold, arr. Brubaker"The Seal Lullaby" by Eric Whitacre"Hands Across the Sea" by John Philip Sousa"Bride of the Waves" by Herbert L. Clarke"Pirates of the Caribbean" by John Wasson"Gilbert and Sullivan Symphonic Suite" arranged by Ted Ricketts"Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa

Spring Swing with the MetroGnomes

Food, Drinks, Dancing, and Great Music were enjoyed by all during AFB's second annual Spring Swing, featuring the MetroGnomes Stage Band.

The event this year was held a great new location this year, the Hudson Grille in Midtown, which offered lots of room every one to spin on the dance floor or just sit back and enjoy the great music.

The MetroGnomes performed everything from classic swing to boogie-woogie to rock and roll.

Click HERE to visit our Facebook album and see some highlights from the event!

A Memorable Journey: Music of the Far East

Saturday, March 15, 2014, 8 PM

Eastern music met Western instruments at Atlanta Freedom Bands’ March 15 “Music of the Far East” concert. The band lead the audience on a musical tour that includes works from Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia and Singapore.

The concert featured Dr. Robert Foster, shakuhachi flute master from Augusta State University, and concert host Dr. Yayoi Everett, Professor of Music at Emory University.

This was one of the more unusual wind band concerts one might be likely to hear.

The pieces on the program captured portraits in sound of the different countries represented. In fact, the repertoire called for 34 different percussion instruments, some of which our very own percussion section made from scratch to match the native instruments the composers called for in their scores.

As always, a tasty reception followed the show!

Our Pan-Asian concert program included a wide variety of pieces, sounds, and cultural references:

"The Singapore Flyer" by Satoshi Yagisawa - Capturing the excitement of a ride on the world's tallest observational wheel"Spring Festival" by Chen Yi - Celebrating the annual Chinese celebrations marking the start of the new year"Figuration for Shakuhachi and Band" by Tetsunosuke Kushida - With a special performance and mini-talk by shakuhachi flute master Dr. Robert Foster"Bali" by Michael Colgrass - Featuring the sound of a homemade gamelan with bowls of metal, clay, and porcelain"Variations on A Korean Folk Song" by John Barnes Chance - An enchanting, 600-year-old song of unrequited passion in a land of dreams"Selections from 'Princess Mononoke'" by Joe Hasaishi - A suite of music from the most popular movie in Japan in 1997"Concordia - A Chinese American Overture" by Rob Grice - Honoring the connection and friendship between our two countries"Orient Express" by Philip Sparke - Enjoy a magical ride on the historic train that links East and West